Chilean Beef Empanadas
Baked pastry pockets filled with spiced beef, onion, olives, and hard-boiled egg.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Dairy, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
How this varies: Many modern home cooks use all-butter dough for convenience and pitted olives for safety with kids/guests — both legitimate adaptations, though pitted olives drop the traditional "hidden pit" surprise bite that's part of the dish's character.
Ingredients
- 800g beef, hand-chopped into small pieces (or coarsely ground as a shortcut), such as beef chuck or flank
- 800g-1kg onions (about 4-5 large), finely chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp merkén or chili powder (optional)
- 2 tbsp oil or lard, for cooking the pino
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 12 whole black olives, preferably with pit
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup lard (or a mix of lard and butter), softened
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
Steps
- Heat oil or lard in a large pot and cook the finely chopped onion, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, 25-30 minutes until very soft, sweet, and jammy — do not let it brown.
- Add the hand-chopped (or ground) beef, cumin, paprika, and chili; cook, stirring, until just cooked through and the mixture is moist but not watery.
- Cool the pino completely, then refrigerate at least 2 hours (or overnight) — chilling firms the fat so the filling is easy to portion and won't leak during assembly.
- Make the dough: combine flour and salt, rub in the softened lard until crumbly, then mix in warm water to form a smooth, elastic dough. Rest, covered, 20-30 minutes.
- Roll dough and cut into large circles (about 15cm/6in).
- Place a spoonful of cold pino in the center of each circle; top with a few raisins, one whole black olive, and a quarter of hard-boiled egg.
- Fold dough over and seal edges by pressing and crimping firmly (moisten edges with water or egg wash), forming the classic twisted repulgue edge.
- Brush with beaten egg, bake at 200C (400F) for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.